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Hope College

Publication Date

Fall 2013

Program Name

Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Uzi Island is a rapidly growing and developing island with a wealth of flora and fauna found in very few other places around the world. Study is needed in every field, this was a preliminary study into the residential and migrant bird species presence on Uzi Island. Birds were observed in two of the main habitats present on Uzi Island, intertidal/mangrove and coral-rag. Three transects were cut and laid through each of the two habitats and monitored in the morning and evening hours over the course of 20 days. A total of 1949 birds were recorded comprising 71 species (708 individuals/ 40 species in intertidal/mangrove and 1241 individuals/ 48 species in the coral-rag habitat).The intertidal/mangrove and coral-rag habitats had cumulative Simpsons indices means of 0.25 and 0.17 respectively (p=0.03, df=45, t=2.2029). Human survey data was also collected following a questionnaire of open-ended questions. Inhabitants of Uzi Island could name a range of 2-26 species of birds, and in general agreed that birds: are important, affected by the health environment, indicate the health of the environment, and are disturbed by villagers. Subjects overall conveyed a positive view of birds and responded positively to the question “what do we get from watching birds”. Recommendations were proposed for future in-depth research.

Disciplines

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Poultry or Avian Science

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